


That's the Day I Fell in Love With You

by pinnacle_of_turtle_dick (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: "Platonic" Cuddling, Albino Dave Strider, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chubby Karkat Vantas, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dave Strider Has ADHD, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Insecurity, Internalized Homophobia, Karkat Hates Himself, Karkat Needs a Hug, Karkat Swearing, M/M, Other, POV Dave Strider, POV Second Person, Self Confidence Issues, Self Image Issues, Touch-Starved, Trans Karkat Vantas, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Karkat Vantas, Trolls (Homestuck), body image issues, its an AU so dont @ me about the major plot holes, its my emotional support ship and i get to choose which parts of canon to give the middle finger to, touch averse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/pinnacle_of_turtle_dick
Summary: "I have no need for your dumb fucking batshit crazy human shooshpapping that isn’t even actual shooshpapping because humans are fucking weird. And guess fucking what even if you were gonna shooshpap me correctly I don’t need shooshpapping right now because I am totally happy and calm and content and fine! I’ve never needed shooshpapping a day in my life and I am certainly not going to fucking start now-"Okay. Not as calm as you thought.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	That's the Day I Fell in Love With You

You are Dave Strider, and you are no longer focusing on your current game of Pocket Frogs, a very ironically cool game for ironically cool kids to play, because you have noticed something. Karkat is extremely close to being squished up against you. It seems he is very slowly inching towards your side. Very slowly. So slowly you begin to think you might have imagined it. But, then he moves again. And- okay. That’s new? It’s not that you mind, no it's quite the opposite actually. Karkat just hasn’t been the most touchy feely person in the time you’ve known him.

You pause the game to think this over for a moment. A rare occurrence of considering your options before jumping into action. Not that you, the very cool Dave Strider was going to do anything. No action here. No siree. Just pondering time. Maybe Karkat’s just like really fucking tired and lacking better judgement, or maybe he’s had a bad day, or maybe he’s just in need of some bro cuddles, or... Something? It is pretty late, almost 11 p.m. so he’s probably just too tired to care. That definitely makes the most sense. Karkat is just sleepy, probably out of his mind tired, like too tired to think things over, so he was just. Scootin’ on over. That makes lots of sense, actually. There aren’t any blankets on the couch. He knows where you keep your blankets, but tired Karkat lacks a filter. Yeah. Yeah, that’s it. Conclusion? Made. Thinking? Over.

And, with that you unpause your game. 

You notice something else new, though, which distracts you from your game again. Karkat’s body heat is very warm. Like, extremely warm. And yeah, you knew that before now. It’s not like you've never physically touched the guy or anything. It’s just that you had never done anything like this before. And Karkat’s taking and extremely long time to just fucking lean into your side. It’s not like it's hard. And like Gog, even if he is tired out of better thinking skills this is taking for-fucking-ever. So, you, ever the wise and ironically smart and cool guy, close the gap. Cool. This is cool.

And Karkat shouts. It's almost like he wasn't expecting it? And like sure, maybe it was like a very all of a sudden, only a dickhead would do this move, and maybe you should have asked first, but also Karkat has definitely been scooting over ever so slightly for the past hour or so. Maybe screaming woke him up, and his is judgement no longer clouded with the haze of sleepiness. You’re fine not cuddling if Karkat doesn’t want to. There’s no doubt in your mind about that. But, Karkat is really mixing the signals right now, which is not as cool as it could be. If the signals were orange and green they’d definitely be some murky shade of brown. That’s how mixed they are. Mixed right the fuck up.

So no, it’s not cool. It is not cool because now Karkat is on the complete opposite end of the couch. Again. God these fucking murky brown signals are frustrating. And you are very confused. You are confused because One: why the fuck was Karkat seemingly trying to cuddle, or whatever the fuck trolls would call it, and then suddenly freaking out when you tried to reciprocate. It’s not like you mind. Well. It’s not like you mind too much. You don’t really care, in a cool way, but also it hurts. You don’t know why it hurts though. But maybe it’s like hey, dude you started it. In fact you started it and your starting process was like an hour too long, so I finished it. Probably. That makes sense to you. “It only hurts because you’ve hurt my sense of pride” has a much better ring than “I was totally about to pull some ‘no homo yall’ type shit and cuddle with my best bro”.

And Two: Apparently Karkat has been talking this entire time. Which makes sense, you’ve been spaced out for a bit and- oh. Now he’s yelling at you for not paying attention. And Gog, he’s so cute when he does that. But like, cute in a totally platonic bro way. Yeah. So you tune back in because it’s getting hella awkward in your own thoughts. 

“-and you’re a fucking bulgesniffer you know that? I’m a troll. I have no need for your dumb fucking batshit crazy human shooshpapping that isn’t even actual shooshpapping because humans are fucking weird. And guess fucking what even if you were gonna shooshpap me correctly I don’t need shooshpapping right now because I am totally happy and calm and content and fine! I’ve never needed shooshpapping a day in my life and I am certainly not going to fucking start now-”

And you tune out whatever he’s saying. Not because you don’t like listening to Karkat. You love listening to Karkat. You could do it all day. Well maybe all day. Most of the day. On a normal day. Today however is not a normal day because if it were Karkat would not have tried to snuggle you, which you would definitely not have minded, and Karkat would not be going on an angry rant about- shoosh paps? What in the ever loving fuck is a shoosh pap anyways?

Whatever the fuck a shoosh pap is does not matter. Why Karkat got so mad over seemingly nothing, does. It literally shouldn’t matter? It was just bro cuddles. And so what if you’ve never bro cuddled before, you’ve done all kinds of other bro things. You jam together. Jamming is always fun, and when you’re jamming you’re just as close as you would be bro cuddling. What’s the difference? Even if he were tired and lacking a filter all a filter does is filter stuff. So like. He had to have wanted to bro cuddle at least a little bit. Hopefully, at least. 

Karkat seems to be done talking, seeing as he’s currently on his phone and no longer angrily ranting, just muttering under his breath. Gog, you missed out on like the whole thing. He’s incredibly cute in a very bro like way when he's ranting. You unpause your current game of Pocket Frogs, it's not that big of a deal. You’re probably both just being melodramatic. You tend to do that a lot, especially Karkat. Karkat is good at expressing his feelings. He usually does it in a very screamy ranty fashion, but that’s all fine and chill. You like that actually. He’s like the opposite of Bro. You think that maybe that’s why you two get along so well. But, your game is unpaused and you have frogs to take care of, so now probably isn’t the best time to unpack all of that.

Some time passes, and you have been 100% in your element. Totally focused on your mobile game. Completely 1000% good and chill and fine and dandy and great and did you mention chill. Except, maybe no you have not been. Because Karkat has once again gotten extremely close to snuggling your left side again. And Karkat is now just barely 3 inches away from you. And at this rate it’ll be another hour before he’s finally decided to just scoot the rest of the way over. But then the alarm on his phone goes off. Shit. Fuck. Gog- So maybe no it won't’ be another hour. It’ll probably be never. Great.

And before you have a chance to say goodbye in a totally ironic and cool way, not because you participate in sappy shit like that just because you want to but because Karkat likes goodbyes, Karkat is gone. And, while you are relieved that that awkward interaction is over, you are also kind of concerned. Karkat doesn’t really act like that. Not often at least. But, situations like this one have been happening more and more often recently. 

You want to help your friend. Your bro, if you will. And you will. And you don’t know how. But Google will. Hopefully. So you open your computer and pull up a new Google tab. “why does my bro have a major freak out over cuddles that he initiated” does not give you the results you’d been hoping for. Or any, really. “why is my friend afraid of touching me??” does. An article titled “Not Everyone Wants a Hug” shows up. You select that one, and holy shit is that a lot of words. But, you persist. Karkat has a problem and you, being the totally really cool and awesome friend you are, are going to be the one to help him through it. 

And, being the responsible yet cool guy you are, you do not skim the study. You read the whole thing. And… woah. Holy fucking shit. So that makes a whole lot of fucking sense. 

Karkat is touch starved.

So that’s what it is, but like what is it. And how do you help him? You read some more. “When you feel snowed under or pressured, the body releases the stress hormone cortisol. One of the biggest things touch can do is reduce such stress, allowing the immune system to work the way it should”. Oh. Ohhhhhhh- Okay. Maybe that’s why Karkat acts like he has a cactus up his ass all the time. Maybe he's just like that. You’re still unsure. It's incredibly enticing, but at the same time. You would very much prefer that Karkat didn’t have a cactus didldo in his ass constantly. And- Well. You know what? That is more than enough of talking about Karkat’s ass for today. 

That’s not important though. Other thoughts can wait, you’ve got a troll bro to help. What is important is a thought that just now crossed your mind. Karkat is a troll. Trolls are like bugs. Can bugs be touch starved? Actually, a probably more important question is can trolls be touch starved? Maybe. Probably. You read a few more paragraphs. “You may also subconsciously do things to simulate touch, such as taking long, hot baths or showers, wrapping up in blankets, and even holding on to a pet.” Okay yeah. Trolls can definitely be touch starved. No doubt about it. That’s probably why he kept ending up next to you. Does that mean he thinks of you as a pet? Probably not. The bro’s brain is probably just trying to get him some cuddle-cuddles with D-man.

You decide to check a few more sources. Can’t hurt to be totally sure. And even find some ways to help. #1 Aggressive behaviour? Check. 

#2 Body image issues? Possible check? Karkat says he looks too much like a girl all the time, which confuses you. Too short, voice too high, he says he’s not flat enough? Whatever that means. He also jokes about being “ugly” constantly. You’re not really sure if he actually believes what he says. You hope not, at least. Like, really, really hope not. It’s all lies anyways. Karkat’s not ugly. At all. Why does Karkat think he’s ugly? You think he’s pretty damn cute actually and- Okay. Not going there. It’s in a bro way, anyways. It’s just. Probably best not to think about that at the moment. So, possible check. 

#3 Mental health issues such as depression? Hopefully not. But… probable check. 

#4 Sexual dysfunction? And uh… You do not know. Probably no? He makes an uncomfortable amount of horny ass jokes. So that could go either way, you can’t be for sure. The words Karkat and sexual in the same sentence however, are putting unwanted thoughts in your head. If this mystery half-chud is anything to go by, you can be sure that you don’t have sexual dysfunction. The incidents are definitely not related though! That’d be some very un-brolike shit of you. You and Karkat are bros. And bros aren’t into bros. So its just a bro thing that you need to stop thinking about because jegus fuck hopefully it’ll go away if you do.

So you have your answer. Which is probably yes to both you and Karkat being touch starved. Fuck that actually, it is a definate yes. You decided that now is not the time to worry about your problems, this is about Karkat afterall. Speaking of, Karkat seems to not like being touched very much. You think for a moment. That would kind of make sense, actually. The articles say that not receiving positive touch from a young age can make you touch starved. If that’s the case, Karkat isn’t used to positive touch. So. You’re going to have to fix that. But how? 

You figure that part will come tomorrow. For now, it’s almost 11 at night, and you have some major planning to do tomorrow. You get up, turn the lights off, lay down, and look through a few more articles. Halfway through the fourth, you fall asleep.

-

You are currently in phase one of the plan. You don't actually know how many phases there are, you didn’t plan this shit out past “Hug angry bastard troll. Gage reaction. Repeat.”

Karkat enters your room angrily ranting. You decide to strike while he is distracted. 

With an especially cool and stoic expression on your face, you wrap your arms around Karkat’s shoulders. Gog, he’s short. Cute. Karkat tenses in your arms, going completely still. “Dave,” he pauses for a moment and you feel him relax a bit, “Dave. Let go. Dave.” He relaxes completely. “Dave. Let go.” It hasn’t been 20 seconds yet, the articles said hugs are ineffective if they’re shorter than that. You hear him sigh a bit. He’s probably annoyed and done with your shit. Fuck this isn’t gonna work-

You let go. Holding him against his will seems like it’d make the situation worse. Plus, Karkat’s consent is more important than your experiment. Even if it is just a hug, it doesn’t matter. 

“Why’d you do that.”

Oh. So he’s gonna be bitchy about it. You suspected this would happen. It’s fine though. “What? A bro can’t hug his bros anymore?”

“I swear to Gog you’re the biggest pencildicked braindead douchehat I’ve ever had the inconvenience of meeting.“ His scowl and language combined would scare any smart, sane being away. You, Dave Strider, are probably neither of those things. Because you stay. Because you know he doesn’t mean that. Because you can see it. The way his frown tries to break into a grin, the way his voice cracks while he tries not to laugh. Becoming friends with Karkat Vantas is like signing a goddamned contract. When you become friends with Karkat Vantas, that pouty bastard would die for you. Sure, he’ll cuss you out like you just killed a litter of puppies in front of him, but he’ll never betray that trust.

But still, you’d really been hoping for a better reaction than that. Oh well, this’ll have to do. You read that this can take time, especially when the touch starved person is touch averse. Karkat is pretty fucking touch averse, you think. But how fucking long is this gonna take? Hopefully not long. You wanna make Karkat happier as soon as fucking humanly possible. Trollily possible? Who’s realm of possibility does that fall under?

Karkat walks to your room. The bastard doesn’t even wait for you. You tag along after him as he flops down on your bed. “What’re we watching today cheif?” 

“The Wedding Singer.”

“You and your fucking nerd romcoms. Okay. You can put it on, dude.” Karkat looked like he was going to argue at first, but he seemed fine when you agreed to watch the movie with him. You don’t mind at all. In the slightest bit, but that is not a good look for your cool guyness. Not even ironically, like Bro likes smuppets. Although the smuppets do kind of freak you out. They’re creepy.

Karkat finishes setting up the movie, and you watch as he walks back to the couch. Wow. Karkat has a nice ass and- Okay. What has been wrong with you lately? Not cool dude, bros are bros. Nothing more. You need a distraction from your thoughts. You try your best to keep a cool and stoic look on your face while you make an excuse to leave the room. This does not work, as your brain does not find it fit to think up a plan before emmiedently doing something stupid, and you stand up from your seat, shouting out, “I’m- I’m Gonna go make… Popcorn? I’m making popcorn in the bathroom- and I'll be right back in just a minute.”, while walking to the laundry room. 

That was weird. That was so fucking weird. Karkat probably thinks you’re high or something now. How the fuck your brain came up with that, you have no idea. But you’re currently hidden away in the 3 foot gap between your washer and dryer that usually houses a clothes hamper. Where is that hamper anyways? Oh well, that’s irrelevant right now. Right now, you need a solid step two for your plan. Which is going to be hard seeing as step one did not work, and you only planned ahead to step one. Oh well.

You could wait it out, see if yesterday’s happening, repeat themselves, and if they do you could just let Karkat decide when he’s comfortable. Or maybe- “HEY! Fuckface if you burn the popcorn again I’ll force feed it to you!”, Karkat yells from the basement. Shit. Seems like you’ve been here too long. Time to speed run a quick plan... Or- You could literally do what you should have done in the first place! Gog! Sometimes you surprise even yourself with your ability to dumb ass your way around the easiest solutions.

You stand up, promising yourself you’ll find the hamper later, and walk to the kitchen. Popcorn time. You put the bag in for exactly two minutes and forty-six seconds. You asked Rose for help after your last failed attempt at making popcorn. You have trolls to swoo- impress in a bro-like fashion, goddamnit. The beeper goes off, and you reach into the microwave without thinking. 

“FUCK-” Okay. So maybe you haven’t learned from your previous attempts at popcorn making. And, speaking of, it seems you also haven’t learned that thinking about Karkat when trying to do potentially dangerous tasks is a bad idea. But! At least now you are twice as aware as before that hot grease hurts. Like a lot actually. You should probably get this cleaned up. 

You set the bag down and walk to the sink, but before you can turn the water on you hear footsteps behind you. Shit.  
“Did you injure your inferior human flesh prison?”

That. Fucker. You can hear the smug smirk in his voice. 

“No.” You turn the cold water on all the way, and move your hand directly under the flow.

“HOLY SHIT WHA-” You pull your hand directly out from under the flow.

“Did you burn your hand?”, Karkat asked. You almost expected him to laugh at you, but he didn’t. Actually, he sounded extremely sincere. It seems like he noticed, too.

“You’re an idiot y'know?”, he said, walking towards you. Yeah, he definitely noticed.

He takes your wrist between his palms, carefully inspecting the burn. “How’d you do this?”

Oh. That’s nice of him. 

“I burnt my hand on the grease.”

“Grease. How?”, he asks.

“On the outside of the bag.”

“Dumbass human cooking methods.”

**Author's Note:**

> on a temporary haitus while i figure out how to fix that major plot holes ive dug myself into. (it may end up scrapped with this idea used for something different, and this fic reworked in while. idk yet,, sorry)


End file.
